


Any Last Words, Princess?

by FuturePast56



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Falling In Love, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kissing, Love, M/M, Paintball, Prince Steve, Rebecca is Awesome, Romantic Soulmates, Royalty, She will be hitting on Wanda, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Steve is a bff with everyone basically, Wanda is blonde btw, XD, also I know nothing about paintball so dont blame me for fucking up the rules in there, assassination kinda but not really, because reasons, except Tony because he is a Lord, i want sleep, kings and queens and princes and princesses, like really its 3:30 a.m. what am I doing, most of the avengers are Steve's bodyguards, prince bucky, royal au, they are meant to be, they just suspected but its not what Steve thought
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 01:02:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13752966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuturePast56/pseuds/FuturePast56
Summary: "Just for the record, Steve hated his soulmark.He understood that every soulmark is unique and he could have something as generic as 'hello', which would make it almost impossible to correctly identify his soulmate, but come-the-fuck-on fate, his soulmark was a joke.And the words that were on his skin since the day he was born, the phrase that everyone in his family feared, the tattoo that he hated with his entire heart was: "Any last words, princess?". His soulmate provided him with the simple fact: there will be at least one assassination attempt directed at him and, to make it even more exciting, no one knows if it will be successful or not."OrSteve is sure that his soulmate will try to kill him, but he stops worrying about it when he meets future Queen of Romania and her devastatingly handsome brother.





	Any Last Words, Princess?

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, here it is and I'm sorry. It's not beta-readed and it's 4:10 a.m. right now so I just can't be bothered to check this for mistakes... Anyway: this is my first work in Marvel fandom and I got inspired after seeing that one scene in Black Panther and completely fangirling over it so I decided to write some stucky for no reason, but I couldn't decide between royal and soulmate AU so my brain went 'why not both' and now you have this.  
> Enojy.  
> And Goodnight everyone, I'm going to bed. To actually speel for once.

Just for the record, Steve hated his soulmark.

He understood that every soulmark is unique and he could have something as generic as 'hello', which would make it almost impossible to correctly identify his soulmate, but come-the-fuck-on fate, his soulmark was a joke.

He also had terrible examples as his parents had cheesy romantic first words with his dad starting the conversation with 'help me I've been struck by your killing looks' to which his mom gave a simple answer: 'I hope your brain is as impressive as your face'. It wasn't the most romantic words known to the people on the planet but the simplicity and adorableness of the soulmarks of the royal couple made people believe feel better about their shitty soulmarks.

And then there was Steve, the only son of the beloved royal couple and future king, forced to hide his soulmark from the cameras each day – it shouldn't be that hard as it was on his left hip, but somehow media managed to catch the word 'prince' from his soulmark, thus creating discussion and ton of speculation about his mark – after that Steve started covering his mark with makeup or bandages just to make sure that no one notices anything. Unfortunately, the article with the word 'prince' clearly visible on his skin became really popular so now almost every person whom Steve met started the conversation with his title.

The only problem with that was that the word 'prince' wasn't even the part of his tattoo... Not really. Because the words that were on his skin since the day he was born, the phrase that everyone in his family feared, the tattoo that he hated with his entire heart was: "Any last words, princess?". His soulmate provided him with the simple fact: there will be at least one assassination attempt directed at him and, to make it even more exciting, no one knows if it will be successful or not.

Steve tried not to complain too much about his soulmark, but, basing his conclusion on his friends’ reactions, he was failing miserably in doing so.

“Steve” Sam mumbled when they were playing video games. “I swear to God you mention your soulmate one more time and I will fly out of this window” his friend said, his expression nothing but serious.

“This is the 9th floor and you can’t fly without your plane” the prince stated while eating a pizza and crushing Sam in the car race on the screen.

“Which only shows how much I want you to shut up about it” Sam concluded, and Steve sighed before dropping his controller.

“I know it’s just- “he sighed again and shook his head. “What if I won’t be able to say anything and my soulmate will kill me without knowing we were meant to be?” he asked right before the empty bottle of Sprite hit him in the head.

“First of all: that’s the opposite of not talking about your soulmate” Sam said calmly. “Second of all: your security has increased since the day you’ve been born because of that tattoo. Normally you would have maybe two bodyguards around you all the time. Two, Steve. Not Eight” he added before taking a sip out of another Sprite bottle. “And, man, you just need to stop being so depressed all the time. Normally you are a walking ray of sunshine, but when you start thinking about all this soulmate crap you look like a kicked puppy and I really, really, really don’t want to face a kicked puppy every two hours” he finished, and Steve nodded.

“Okay, I will try to be more optimistic” he promised and rolled his eyes. “Maybe I will say something stupid as fuck to make sure that their life was as shitty as mine” the blonde added, and, in that moment, he noticed Sam standing up and gathering his stuff.

“Whatever you say about shitty life, your Highness” Sam said, putting on a posh accent, before bowing down to him, which caused Steve to throw back the bottle that hit him couple moments ago.

“Jackass” the prince mumbled looking at his friend leaving. Couple second later redhead woman came in. “Hi, Natasha. I thought it’s Clint’s shift to babysit me today” he greeted her, and the woman smiled.

“It was, but there is a big possibility that he still hangover after drinking with you yesterday” she explained, before sitting down. “I still don’t know why you are so good at drinking” she added before opening back of chips and sitting on the couch next to him.

“I can never outdrink you” Steve stated, before handling her the controller, which she took with a grin on her face.

“That’s why I’m at every single party you attend” she concluded and winked at him. “Did Sam mention that you have a meeting with a delegation from Romania tomorrow?”

“Yeah, he said something about it”

“Good. Wanda and Sam should watch you so don’t worry about it being too boring” Natasha stated and bit on her lip, while effortlessly beating Steve’s record in the game.

*****

The delegation party meant not only translators following him around entire evening – although in most cases people decided to speak English, for which Steve thanked Fate – but also extra layers of covering his tattoo, just to make sure that no one will notice anything. So, an hour before the event started, Steve was ready, in his new dark blue suit and a dark tie with the words 'I hate being here' appearing when its dark on the bottom part of it – gift from Clint, although Steve knew that he had to hide the phrase while going to an event like this one. Steve had been introduced to the Royal couple of Romania over five years ago, and he almost managed to speak with the princess once time, but somehow, he lost her in the crowd and never spoke to her.

"They have a son, you know?" Clint asked while trying to tie his tie properly. Steve blinked and stopped fixing his cufflinks with little stars – a gift from Wanda.

"I've never met any son" he answered honestly before shaking his head and walking to Clint to help him with his tie.

"He went to the military, I think" Clint explained and shrugged. "You should ask Nat or Maria, they will know" he added and smiled when Steve managed to fix his tie. "I should get better at that after taking care of your ass for four years now" he mumbled and Steve shook his head.

"Admit it, you just like when Natasha fixes it for you" the prince added and smirked.

"We are friends. And co-workers, your Highness" Clint answered and looked at the clock. "Although we do raise a royal child together so maybe there is something more" he then added and ducked before Steve even throw the cufflinks with little arrows at him.

"Asshole" he mumbled when Clint laughed and picked up cufflinks.

"Time to go, your Highness" his bodyguard informed him and three minutes later they were on their way to welcome the royal family from Romania.

*****

Steve stood on the right of his mother, Wanda, and Sam right behind him with Clint and Natasha in the back of the room and Pietro with Rhodey next to the door. Steve notices how Natasha whispers something to her microphone and couple seconds later Wanda taps him on the shoulder.

"Natasha says that whatever you do don't stare" she whispers, her strong accent disappearing in the hushed tone she was using.

"Why would I stare?" He mumbles, but before he could receive an answer the main door opened and a woman in a simple green dress come is.

"Your Majesties. Your Highness" she welcomed them with a bow. "The King and Queen of Romania with their daughter, Princess Rebecca, are here" she said and three figures appeared right after her words, all of them with dark hair and dark clothes. After a couple of formal greetings, Steve's father invited King George to discuss some details about international trade between their countries when the rest of them directed themselves towards the formal party that officially started over twenty minutes before.

*****

Steve managed to properly talk to Princess Rebecca for the first time in his life mostly because they both ended up hiding on the balcony. He stood there on his own - Wanda and Sam agreed to stay inside and keep an eye on him the entire time, because "that's our job, Steve, and if we fail you will be dead, you moron!" - when someone stumbled quickly next to him. A woman recognized him and Steve was about to start a conversation when the princess spoke.

"Hide me" she said and quickly turned him around so he was facing the garden and covering her at the same time. The brunette stared behind his shoulder for a couple seconds before relaxing and sighing loudly. "Thanks, dude" she said and Steve took a step back to give her some space.

"May I ask what cause you to hide in the cold during such an... interesting event?" He asked sarcastically, pointing out how boring political events usually were. Rebecca chuckled and opened her purse, completely ignoring his question. She pulled out the flask to which Steve raised his eyebrows. "You know that there is alcohol inside, right?" He asked with an amused smile. She made a face and shook her head.

"Yeah, if you want 15% vodka, because we cannot be too drunk on the international negotiations" the brunette said and pointed at the flask. "I got some good stuff right here. Almost four times stronger than the thing you drink here. You should try it" she basically put the flask in his hand. "This evening will be less boring that way" she added and Steve smiled before taking a sip. He could feel the strong alcohol hitting his throat and coughed right after swallowing. Rebecca smiled and took her alcohol back.

"That was strong" Steve mumbled and made a face before looking at smiling woman. "You still didn't answer my question" he then added.

"That was nothing" she started and put the flask back into her purse. "I just kinda cockblocked my brother when he was trying to hit on that one guy and made him look like a moron so now he wants to kill me" she explained and shrugged. "Nothing new" the princess then added and Steve shook his head.

"I didn't have the opportunity to meet your brother" he said truthfully.

"Oh, he was late. Dad was really pissed about it" she confessed and made a face.

"I hope he doesn't really want to hurt you" he said and the girl finally looked him in the eye. Steve noticed her confusion that stayed on her face for a minute before realization took its place.

"I forgot you're an only child" Rebecca only mumbled. "He won't really kill me. He would have to be King then and he definitely doesn't want that to happen" she added and smiled before fixing her dress. "Can I ask you a question?" She asked and Steve nodded.

"Shoot" he answered and the princess bit her lip.

"Why do you have so many bodyguards? There wasn't any attack on your castle since seven years before you were born... At least that what I researched" she clarified and Steve tried to hide how impressed by her knowledge he was – he didn't even know she had a brother until today and she actually researched the history of his family.

"That's... kind of a secret" he said and she took a step closer.

"C'mon man" Rebecca said, her voice quieter now. "If you tell me I will take you paintballing this Tuesday" she said and Steve chuckled.

"Very interesting proposition" he said and the woman nodded.

"I know, and I'm very convincing" she agreed. Steve thought about it for a moment, knowing fully well that it was a bad idea to tell anyone the truth, and that it will cause many troubles to his kingdom and that there are people taking pictures around here basically entire time and that-

"It's because of my soulmark" he mumbled quickly just to stop his thoughts. The girl raised her eyebrows.

"Now I'm intrigued" she confessed and smiled before punching him lightly in the shoulder. "Can you share more details or will you kill me for knowing something like that?" She asked before she giggled.

"I can't say more, sorry" Steve said, instantly regretting his confession to the girl he spoke with for the first time. The princess sighed and fixed her hair before shrugging.

"Well, that's it for now, I guess. I will find out one day, your Highness, I promise you that" Rebecca said and grinned. "You are still invited to that paintball in two days. We are going around 3 p.m. I will give my number to one of your thousand bodyguards" she promised and smiled. "Also, do you know any hot guys or girls that I may talk to?" She said and bit her lower lip. "Anyone really, I love meeting new people" she added and Steve nodded. She reminded him of Natasha with that confident flirty nature. Steve looked into the room and started observing people.

"Well, I know my friend Tony should be here soon. He is the Lord of-" Steve started, but the princess shook her head.

"You mean Lord "Walking STD" Stark? No, thank you" she decided and Steve smiled. Although Tony was a genius his life choices were full of promiscuities.

"Okay, my friend Sam would kill me if I didn't suggest him as a possible date to a Princess" he then suggested and Rebecca shook her head.

"You are too good of a friend to be useful" she decided and looked inside the room. "How about that: just look inside the building and tell me who is the hottest person there" the brunette suggested and Steve rolled his eyes before obeying and looking inside. He focused his eyes on people in the crowd. His gaze was falling from one person to another, from a woman in a long green dress who was dancing with her partner to a man who stood close to the wall, trying to hide the fact that he was clearly on his phone. Steve stopped his gaze at the man, enjoying his clear lack of fucks given that he usually associated with Tony. The man stood there, leaning against the wall, a piece of cake in his left hand, a phone in the right, his eyes jumping up from the device every couple seconds, almost like he checked if someone was watching him, but for some reason Steve felt like that looking up was caused by something else. He continued looking at the man, admiring his purple suit standing out in the crowd of black tuxedos that Steve had seen during the night.

"How about the guy with the phone?" He suggested to Rebecca who followed his gaze and quirked the corner of her mouth.

"Interesting" she said, something that Steve couldn't recognize hiding in her voice. "Good to know your taste" she added and fixed her dress once more before presenting him her hand. "It was a pleasure to speak to you, your Highness" the princess then said, her tone suddenly professional.

"I'm also glad we had time to talk, your Highness" he answered with the same formal tone Rebecca just put on. She smiled and left him on his own on the balcony, walking away towards the table with snacks.

A minute later Natasha entered the balcony and stood next to him, not saying the word. Steve saw he smirk, he noticed Clint staring at them with curiosity painted on his face as well as Wanda holding a hand close to her earpiece, probably to make sure that she will hear everything. Steve waited a moment, then two, seconds changing into minutes and still the only noises he heard were the one coming out of the party. Natasha was smirking that all-knowing smirk of hers, but she didn't say anything. Steve focused his gaze on the party, trying really hard to ignore his bodyguard.

He won't give Natasha the satisfaction.

His gaze went straight back to the men in the purple suit who was still focused on his phone, now munching on the piece of different cake. After a moment the man noticed something in the crowd and quickly swallowed the food before putting his phone in his pocket and walking away. Steve hasn't even noticed that the man had long hair, put in the ponytail until he started walking towards something outside his point of view – he also had a chance to check out stranger's ass when he was walking so that was also something positive about this situation.

"Okay, you won" Natasha said, taking Steve out of his trance. "Although I could wait longer if Clint could be quiet for more than six seconds in a row... And if you would actually have paid attention to me instead of checking someone out" the redhead said before putting her hand to her left ear. She smiled. "Sam is asking who you were checking out" she explained. "The guy with a cake and a phone. Prince James if I'm not wrong" she then added and Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Wait" he mumbled and his bodyguard smirked, knowing exactly what was coming next. "That guy is a prince?" He asked and Nat nodded.

"Older brother of Princess Rebecca. Should be the next ruler of Romania, but decided to leave it to his sister, breaking the succession, which probably shocked and angered many people... He went to the army for seven years but had to come back after the accident in June last year and now he is taught to be an advisor to his sister" Natasha explained while looking at Prince James with an amused grin. "He is also openly gay, so your drooling may not be completely pointless" she added and Steve heard Wanda chuckle.

"That's great" he mumbled while trying to stop the blush that was always creeping on him when someone caught him flirting or checking someone out. "Oh... Shit" he then mumbled when he remembered that he said to Princess Rebecca that her brother was the hottest person in the ballroom.

"Clint is asking what happened" Natasha informed him and Steve raised his gaze to notice Clint staring at them from the other end of the room. The prince sighed.

"I may..." He started and put his hands on his face. "I said to Rebecca that her brother is good looking" he explained and noticed Natasha biting back the grin.

"He said to the princess that he wants to bang her brother" Natasha said to the communicator and Steve shook his head.

"No, I didn't!" He said, raising his voice and making Sam laugh. "I said that..." He huffed with frustration. "You know what? Nevermind... I don't have to explain myself" he mumbled and Natasha smirked.

"Sure, you don't" she decided, but that all-knowing smirk never left her lips.

*****

Steve would love to say that he got a courage to actually walk towards Prince James and talk to him, but he chickened out three times he noticed him and then he got caught into several discussions that lasted longer than he hoped they would. He was in the middle of a boring discussion with Lord and Lady Goldsmith when his eyes caught the flash of purple and he noticed Prince of Romania standing couple meters away and talking with his sister, who seemed to be rolling her eyes at the time. Steve smiled and tried to focus on the words that were coming out from Lord Robert's mouth when his wife nodded with agreement, but he really couldn't care less about his personal opinions on multicultural policy presented by his father.

"...of course, I agree with it, but some things shouldn't be protected by the prize that high. Our country could save thousands if we spend less on protecting some artifacts that are not related to our culture. Furthermore..." Steve dozed off again, his eyes jumping to the royal siblings of Romania where Becca just smirked and put a hand on her brother's shoulder. Steve was about to suggest to Clint to go closer and maybe listen a little bit what they're talking about or to Pietro to save him from boring conversation with a racist prick who was unfortunately very important and wealthy, but then Rebecca nodded her head towards him and, before Steve could even think about it, her brother turned around and looked right at him. Steve looked away, trying not to blush because of an embarrassment of getting caught staring, and was about to excuse himself when Wanda appeared on his left – he never heard her coming and he started to think that she was a witch who teleports from one place to another.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, your Highness, but we have SSFBS15" she informed him, using the code that stood for 'Save Steve From Boring Shit (add a random number to make it sound official)' making Lady Goldsmith really concerned.

"Is it something dangerous?" She asked in a concerned whisper. Steve shook his head and forced a smile.

"Nothing to worry about, I promise, but I have to leave the party for a moment. I hope we will be able to continue our conversation later" he directed his words towards Lord Robert who nodded and answered with a simple: 'Me too, your Highness'. Steve followed Wanda outside of the ballroom to the hall, which they always did to make their code more believable. When they were finally out of people's view Steve relaxed and breathed out slowly.

"You're welcome" Wanda said and smiled at him to which Steve nodded.

"Do you ever feel like you really want to punch someone in the face, but can't, because of rules and stuff?" He half-mumbled his question. Wanda only shook her head.

"Steve, you punched so many racist, homophobic, sexist pricks in the pubs that it's not even front-page news anymore at this point" she reminded him and Steve chuckled under his breath as he couldn't deny that punching some 21st Nazis was a very satisfying feeling. "But you still haven't talked to this pretty prince you wanted to talk to" she added and Steve just stared at her when the blonde – she changed her hair colour last week and Steve had to admit that it suited her well – raised her eyebrows to which Steve sighed.

"You were the nicest person that I ever met when you started working here and then you spend too much time with the rest of them" Steve mumbled to which Wanda giggled.

"What can I say, your Highness... Annoying you is sometimes to entertaining" she decided and Steve shook his head. How did he end up with eight bodyguards who mocked him more in seven years than Tony in his entire life – and Tony was a master of mocking people, especially Steve.

"I'll try to talk to him, but you have to save me from code SSFBS24, okay?" He suggested and Wanda nodded.

"As you wish, your Highness"

*****

He didn't talk to Prince James. He almost did it, but then someone started talking to James and Steve couldn't play it cool. Then he spent about 20 minutes talking to Lord Murphy only to avoid Lord Goldsmith who seemed very keen on returning to their previous conversation. When Steve finally finished talking he turned around to notice Princess Rebecca talking to Pietro who put him flirtatious smile on. Steve turned around, looking for Rebecca's brother, but the purple suit was nowhere to be found.

"He left" he suddenly heard on his right and tried not to jump when Natasha suddenly spoke. "Couple minutes ago. Didn't say goodbye to your parents, but he also didn't say hello, so I don't think they know that he was here" Natasha added and Steve sighed. Here went his chance to make one of those events a little more interesting.

*****

Three hours later Steve finally ended up in his room, face down on his bed. He was wondering if he should even change into pajama as he physically couldn't be bothered to do anything at this point, but then he heard the knock, followed by doors opening right after.

"Royal parties are really tiering I see" Pietro said and Steve mumbled something back, face still pushed into the pillow, which made his voice disappear. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving you alone, your Highness," he said while stepping closer and putting something on the table. "Princess Rebecca left her number so you can contact before going out for some paintball" Pietro added, his voice becoming quieter with every step. "Sweet dreams" he then added and Steve could hear the doors closing. He sat up and walked towards the table, taking the piece of paper and looking and digits written on it. He quickly put it on his phone and wrote a quick text.

 

**[11:24 p.m.]**

_Hey, Princess. It's Steve._

 

He then took a quick shower and changed into some pajamas and before going to bed he decided to check his phone one more time. He smiled when he got two messages.

 

**[11:34 p.m.]**

_princess??_

**[11:35 p.m.]**

_who the fcuk is steve???_

Steve stared at the screen, not really knowing what to write back. How big was a chance that Rebecca was drunk to the level of not remembering names?

 

**[11:44 p.m.]**

_Prince Steve? You were at my 'party' today_

**[11:46 p.m.]**

_oh yeah I remember you_

**[11:46 p.m.]**

_how did you_ _got my number?_

_**[11:47 p.m.]** _

_You gave it to me?_

**[11:49 p.m.]**

_i think i would remember if  i did, princess_

**[11:50 p.m.]**

_I'm not a princess._

**[11:51 p.m.]**

_whatever you say, princess_

**[11:54 p.m.]**

_Are you drunk?_

**[11:57 p.m.]**

_and when im not? becca decided to drink some extra after the party_

**[11:59 p.m.]**

_we're just hoping that cameras won't catch us drinking on the roof_

**[12:00 p.m.]**

_Becca?_

**[12:01 p.m.]**

_yeah, my sister?_

**[12:02 p.m.]**

_i thought you would know that much, princess_

 

Steve furrowed his eyebrows when a sudden realization hit him. Sister. Becca is a 'sister'. Which means that he was speaking to her brother.

 

**[12:06 p.m.]**

_Oh... I thought it was her number_

**[12:07 p.m.]**

_oooow i see what she did_

**[12:13 p.m.]**

_sorry to disappoint_

**[12:14 p.m.]**

_I'm not disappointed_

**[12:15 p.m.]**

_I actually wanted to talk to you entire evening._

 

Steve definitely send that text too quickly and swore under breath for not thinking things through, after which he started overthinking while staring at the screen, waiting for an answer.

**[12:18 p.m.]**

_yeah?_

The prince groaned and fell on his bed, wondering how he can casually continue this talk, because he obviously wasn't too good at 'playing it cool'.

 

**[12:20 p.m.]**

_Because we never met... And we should for our countries future._

**[12:22 p.m.]**

_"our countries future"???_

**[12:22 p.m.]**

_really?_

**[12:23 p.m.]**

_that's a terrible excuse, princess, and you know it_

**[12:24 p.m.]**

_I'm not a princess and it's not an excuse._

**[12:25 p.m.]**

_suuuuuuuureeee_

**[12:26 p.m.]**

_whatever you decide, princess_

**[12:27 p.m.]**

_becca says we can talk at paintball this tuesday_

**[12:28 p.m.]**

_Yeah, I will try to be there._

**[12:30 p.m.]**

_can't wait to kick your royal ass_

**[12:31 p.m.]**

_We will see._

**[12:32 p.m.]**

_i guess we will, princess_

 

Steve stared at the exchange for a couple more minutes before deciding that he was currently too tired to overthink what had been said and decided to stress about it in the morning.

*****

Steve definitely did not spend the entire Sunday meeting with his parents and ambassadors texting with Bucky – Prince James explained that Becca called him like that when she was a kid and it stick. Apparently, Rebecca was also jealous about her friend Callie Clarke and her brother Connor, because their initials were the same letters thus making Rebecca 'Becca' and James 'Bucky' Barnes to make it more satisfying and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

So, Steve did not spend entire Sunday meeting texting Bucky... He did spend most of the meeting doing so, but definitely not entire meeting.

**[12:48 a.m.]**

_becca is ready to fight you about not liking musical classics_

**[12:49 a.m.]**

_I like musicals. I said I don’t like High School Musical._

**[12:50 a.m.]**

_oh yeah i know_

**[12:51 a.m.]**

_that is a musical classic for her_

**[12:53 a.m.]**

_You should definitely let her see something more classics._

**[12:54 a.m.]**

_You said she haven't seen Gypsy? Maybe try that._

**[12:55 a.m.]**

_she is singing 'bet on it' now_

**[12:58 a.m.]**

_she is not stopping_

**[01:02 p.m.]**

_SHE IS LOOKING FOR A BASKETBALL NOW MAKE HER STOP_

**[01:03 p.m.]**

_steven rogers, you royal asshole, it's all your fault_

 

Steve chuckled under his breath and suddenly the room went quiet and Steve looked up to notice that everyone in the room was staring at him including Sam who was standing in the corner, trying to bite back the smile. He looked at his father, who obviously stopped reading something that was probably very important and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Is there something funny in our international trades, Steven?" He asked and Steve tried to hide his phone, but in that moment, Bucky decided to send him another text thus lightning up the screen. Sam looked like he was going to burst out laughing any second now.

"No, there isn't. I'm sorry" he answered and his father shook his head lightly before continuing reading new trading plan with Romania. Steve breathed out and stopped himself from looking at his phone until the end of the meeting, after which he left the room and opened the message.

**[01:04 p.m.]**

_i will blame you for that, stevie_

**[01:12 p.m.]**

_i just got a basketball thrown into my head in the rhythm of 'we are all in this together'_

**[01:19 p.m.]**

_princess are you pissed? because you are to blame and you know it_

**[01:26 p.m.]**

_i feel ignored and i don’t like it_

 

Steve noticed that someone stood next to him, but he assumed it was Sam so he sent the quick response to Bucky before acknowledging the person next to him.

 

**[01:37 p.m.]**

_Owww, don’t feel ignored, Buck, I'm back._

**[01:38 p.m.]**

_Also, I got caught texting you during the meeting so I blame you for that._

 

"So..." He heard a male voice and suddenly tensed, putting his phone in the pocket. "What was so important it took your mind out of the meeting?" His father asked.

"Oh... It's just Prince James... from Romania" he specified and noticed his father surprise.

"I thought he didn't make it to yesterday's party" the King said and Steve felt like his brain froze and all the thoughts stopped.

"Rebecca gave me his number... We are actually going to paintball this Tuesday before they go back to Romania" he said and his father looked surprised.

"You are engaging in international friendships... Friendships overall that are not with people working for you... and Tony" he added and Steve rolled his eyes. His father despised Tony and his lifestyle and he wasn't subtle about it. "I'm proud. I will actually forgive you texting during a meeting. But just this once" he added and pat him on the shoulder before walking away. Steve smiled and looked at his phone where another message was waiting.

**[01:43 p.m.]**

_that's karma, bitch_

**[01:44 p.m.]**

_also becca said she will make you re-watch all hsm movies with 'the right spirit'_

**[01:45 p.m.]**

_which means with her btw she will sing every single fucking song so be ready for that princess_

"So..." Steve heard Sam's voice and shook his head.

"Don't say anything" he mumbled and started walking, hearing Sam following him.

"But I want to know how is your big fat crush going" Sam said and Steve rolled his eyes.

"I know Nat hacks to my phone on daily bases for fun, so she was probably reading all the texts out loud for all of you" the prince said Sam's silence basically answered it. "Exactly" he then added and kept on walking when trying to text and not walk into something accidentally – he did walk into around seven random chairs and tables only today, because of his phone. This constant texting with Bucky was causing him many troubles and honestly, he didn’t mind at all.

*****

Steve also spend entire Monday texting with Bucky and ignoring constant comments from all of his friends. And Tony decided to come by, which really increased the number of mean comments.

"Is it another text?" He asked when Steve's phone made 'bip' sound once again. "What is price charming writing now? Please tell me it's something interesting, like a dick pic or something" Tony mumbled while biting an apple.

"Nope" Natasha said, looking up from her phone. "James is text-singing 'Rose's Turn' from Gypsy because James is just watching it with his sister" she mumbled, her voice completely bemused.

"Ugh... Can you guys be any more adorable? No dick pics, no nudes, nothing interesting" Tony groaned out.

"You didn't see him yesterday" Clint mumbled with a mouth full of Cheetos. "Our dear Stevie was giggling like a teenager in love because Bucky-boy quoted something romantic so Steve blushed for ten minutes straight" he explained, making Tony groan again.

"Just do the do tomorrow after paintball" he pleaded. "Fuck our dear Prince of Romania all day long so I can talk about something with you, for God's sake" he added and Steve shook his head.

"I will ignore this advice as hard as I can, I can promise you that Tony" Steve mumbled, making Sam chuckle.

*****

Steve was late for paintball and it was all Tony's fault.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly, completely true, but Steve had to blame someone for stealing his phone and hiding it in the castle – and this place was huge so it wasn't easy to find. He couldn't check the messages with an address and an hour of meeting and apparently Natasha couldn't hack into his phone if it wasn't turned on and none of them had Bucky's number and apparently Steve lost the card with it somewhere so he spent over 2 hours looking for his phone when Tony took pictures and recorded his frustrated searching instead of helping. He did find his phone hidden inside some vase in the hall by – as he could only assume – Tony. So, he decided to blame Tony until proven otherwise.

When Steve finally managed to get his ass into the paintball place he was thirty minutes late. He walked into the place with Pietro and Wanda only to see Rebecca with some men - which was probably her bodyguard.

"Here you are! Late!" She yelled at him and then throw the uniform in his direction. "Change. And you brought the cute bodyguard!" She smiled and Pietro stepped in.

"It's nice to see you too" he said and smiled, but Rebecca made a face and shook her head quickly.

"Oh, I meant the cute blonde over there" the princess explained, nodding towards Wanda who blushed and looked down. Rebecca smiled and looked back at Pietro. "I hope you are fast and have a good aim. Take one uniform and join us" she said and pushed them both into changing rooms. "Chop, chop, chop, people! The rest is ready and probably started playing already!" She then yelled and Steve run to put his uniform on, followed by Pietro muttering: "My own sister betrayed me" under his breath.

*****

When they walked in the teams were already formed and the game started couple minutes before as everyone ran towards their groups. Steve was with Pietro, Rebecca and three of her friends: Camilla, Mike and Sebastian (who was also her bodyguard), and they were playing against Bucky, his bodyguard Brad and some other people Steve hasn't seen yet, but he was informed their names were: Monica, Shawn, Toby and Rose.

They split out, Steve running with Pietro, Camilla and Mike for a minute before they split as well, leaving a distance to cover each other is something happened when the rest of their team – Rebecca with Sebastian – took a different path to ambush the other team.

Steve was almost at the end, only Pietro behind him when they heard the shots. And then the hell started, orange, green and blue paint splashing around. Steve went back, trying to aim at the enemy when he heard loud yell behind him.

"Fuck!" Steve turned around and noticed Pietro completely covered in paint. "I took so many shots for you, Steve! If you don't shoot someone I will kick your ass!" He then yelled and showed him to hide, which Steve did right after he shot the attacker couple times. After that there was a silence again, the other group trying to hide again.

Steve looked around, noticing another movement behind the old shed. He directed himself that way and walked around the wooden building, looking through the broken windows. the prince took another step and noticed the person hiding right behind the corner. He put the gun higher and aimed and- he felt something pushing into his back. Shit.

Steve turned his head and noticed the member of the opposite team, sticking the gun into his back. Of fucking course. The prince started putting his arms up, noticing that the person he was aiming at already moved away, and started to slowly turn around. He then decided to try one trick that Sam taught him and he quickly caught the attackers paintball gun and tried to spin it around out of his hands. The gun fell down in between them and for a second, they both froze, the other guy shocked and Steve honestly surprised that it worked. Right after that moment of confusion Steve quickly dived down for a gun, but the other player had other thoughts, pushing him out of the way. They rolled over, physically fighting – Steve was pretty sure that it was against the rules, but he wasn't in a position to argue when someone was trying to strangle him. He pushed back, ending up on the top for a brief second before he was pushed back down, losing his mask in the way. He was about to fight again, but then he noticed the paintball-gun directed at his chest. And then it happened.

"Any last words, princess?" He heard the voice speak and Steve froze for a second before he started to laugh, a hysterical laugh, because of course, of fucking course, that how this would happen. Not an assassination attempt, of course, that a million bodyguards and extra security, entire palace and his family being scared for his life since the day he had been born... Of course, it happened during playing fucking paintball. The irony of this situation made him unable to stop laughing. When he finally managed to stop himself, tears in the corners of his eyes, he looked at the very confused attacker who hasn't moved a bit during Steve's hysterical laugh. He dropped his hands to the ground and left out the last heavy breath mixed with a little chuckle before he smiled and looked right into man's googles – he already knew he would be pissed about it later.

"How about: Don’t shoot me, I'm your soulmate?" He threw the words out, giggling tone still present in his voice when the other man dropped the gun in shock and took off his helmet and- "Oh, holy fuck, I really hoped it's going to be you" he said, staring and Bucky's pretty face and God why didn't see it up close before, he could've admired that amazing profile long ago. "That will help our countries policy, don't you think?" Steve then asked, watching Bucky standing up and giving him a hand. The prince took it and stood up and he was really satisfied when he noticed that he was taller than Bucky.

"Don't talk about that now, Steve" Bucky said and hooked his finger into Steve's belt loop, bringing him closer. Steve really liked how his name sounded said out loud by Bucky. "I'm definitely not planning to think about my job while kissing my soulmate for the first time" he added and Steve shook his head lightly with a smile.

"Take out for a date first. C'mon, Bucky, try a little bit harder" he answered and Bucky smiled, bringing him closer.

"Because of your amazing first words I went to the army so I can have someone say 'don't shoot me' as the conversation starter, but here we are, at the fucking paintball game. It's all _your_   fault, Stevie" he mumbled and Steve nodded.

" _My_   fault?" He mumbled and shook his head lightly, making their noses touch for a second. "Try to be me for a second. You had to put the badass: 'any last words' as the first words so everyone thought there will be an assassination attempt hence eight bodyguards. Also, it was your sister who invited me here so... definitely _your_   fault" he said and Bucky laughed and here he was, falling in love with the man in front of him just because his laugh was like a happy song. Steve loved it.

"First work, then my sister... Are you trying to get me off tracks and make me not make out with you now, Rogers?" He asked and Steve bit his lower lip.

"I dunno... Is it working, Barnes" he answered. Bucky smirked and moved towards him, closing the space between them, and God, Steve wanted more the moment they touched. But then suddenly Bucky broke the kiss while stepping back and Steve noticed blue paint covering the back of his uniform. They both looked up to notice Rebecca, as the princess decided to take her mask off, and smile at them, waving her gun around.

"Great strategy, your Highness! That's what I call distraction!" After which she looked somewhere in the field and yelled: "Monica, shoot Steve in his pretty ass so he can take the break and continue to make out with my annoying brother!" And before Steve could even protest he felt two hits, one after the other. He didn't even look to check the paint, instead, he connected the gaze with Bucky and smirked.

"She has a point" he mumbled and his soulmate smiled back right after.

"Yeah, Becca is barely right, but I will give her that: this is amazing plan" Bucky agreed. "Let's go take those uniforms off" he added and then stopped to looked Steve up and down. "Or maybe take them off of each other. We will see" he added and winked and Steve felt like he was blushing really hard, but hell if he wasn't planning to do whatever Bucky suggested at this point. He smiled and nodded.

"I am so glad you are my soulmate" Steve mumbled and Bucky smiled once more.

"It's my pleasure, your Highness" he muttered and bowed mockingly to which Steve pushed him lightly.

"Jerk" he mumbled and shook his head. "Hey, you know what? You are my soulmate so you will end up being a ruler of a country" Steve informed him with sudden realization, to which Bucky swore quietly.

"Goddammit, Steve. You just love ruining perfect moments, don't you?" Prince of Romania breathed and Steve laughed, before following Bucky into the main building and then into the changing rooms. And at this point, he knew he would follow Bucky at the end of the world if he asked for it. He noticed the brunette's wide smile reflecting his own and he just couldn't stop thinking how lucky he really was. And he didn't even have to live through the assassination attempt to find happiness, which was definitely the second best news he heard this day.

 


End file.
